The IAG Group’s low-cost carrier announced that it will close three Spanish bases, explaining that it is no longer necessary to have overnight aircraft in A Coruña (LCG), Asturias (OVD), and Madrid (MAD), affecting 145 workers, although it will maintain most of the connections through its other bases.
As of April 1, Vueling will withdraw three aircraft assigned at Madrid-Barajas, affecting 22 pilots and 64 cabin crew. At A Coruña, 10 pilots and 20 crew members will be affected, as it had one aircraft based there. In Asturias, one aircraft, nine pilots, and 20 crew members will be affected. The company informed the social agents so that the employees could have the possibility of relocating to other bases.
The company will keep its bases in Barcelona, Bilbao, Santiago de Compostela, Valencia, Alicante, Seville, Palma, Ibiza, Tenerife, and Las Palmas in Spain; Paris-Orly in France; Rome and Florence in Italy; London-Gatwick in the UK and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
However, Vueling would no longer base its aircraft at the three affected Spanish airports from 2020, given the mobility restrictions that arose at that time. The bases at Alicante, Santiago de Compostela, and Valencia were also being considered for de-basing, but this did not materialize in the end.
This new flight program has also the particularity of being part, for the first time, of Vueling’s transformation plan (Vueling Transform), in turn integrated into the Advanced Network Design project, which aims to establish new ways of approaching the design of the network.
According to Vueling, this project takes into account fundamental elements such as the efficient use of aircraft and flight schedules in terms of carbon emissions, minimizing disruptions and supporting operational teams in important issues such as punctuality.
The company expects to reach pre-pandemic levels by 2023, or by 2021 at the latest, although demand will not be distributed in the same way as before.
Vueling in Asturias, A Coruña and Madrid
At Coruña airport it cancels flights to Malaga (AGP), Bilbao (BIO), and Tenerife/South (TFS), being the most affected, maintaining connections to Barcelona (BCN), Gran Canarias (LPA), Palma de Mallorca (PMI), Seville (SVQ), Tenerife/North (TFN) and Valencia (VLC) in Spain; Paris/Orly (ORY) in France and London/Gatwick (LGW) in the UK.
From Barajas it cancels the route to Paris/Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Rome/Fiumicino (FCO); maintaining Barcelona (BCN), Ibiza (IBZ), and Menorca (MAH) in Spain, and Florence (FRC) in Italy.
While Asturias (OVD) would retain all its routes, including Alicante (ALC), Barcelona (BCN), Gran Canarias (LPA), Ibiza (IBZ), Lanzarote (ACE), Malaga (AGP), Palma de Mallorca (PMI), Seville (SVQ) and Tenerife/Norte (TFN) in Spain and Paris/Orly (ORY) in France; London/Gatwick (LGW) will be added soon.
